ANCIENT BABYLON.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19967, 8 December 1926, Page 6

ANCIENT BABYLON.

RELICS OF FORGOTTEN AGES. ADDRESS BY REV. W. L. MARSH. “A Bambie Through Ancient Babyloi was the subject of an'interesting leora by the Rev. VV. L. Marsh, of South Africa, in Burns Hall last night. Tnere was a very large attendance, and the chai nil an for the evening was the Rev Dr Merrmgton. who briefly introduced the lecturer Mr Marsh illustrated his address with a series of tine lantern slides that gave an adequate -idea of some of the picturesque country he h>rd visited. He spoke vividly from his knowledge of Mesopotamia and pointed out why it had been for Britain to break the power of the Turk •and to prevent the construction of the Berlin to Bagdad r railway. If the central powers had had free access they would have dominated that part of the world and been a menace to Egypt and Africa, and could have then turned their attention to India, and it would not be impossible to see that they could stretch their tentacles to Australia, which was dangerously close to New Zealand. He told of Britain’s efforts to assemble order out of the political enonomical and national chaos that existed and how the difficulties wete gradually overcome until there had been established some form of settled Government that was getting stronger year by year. His pictures of the unique excavation and discoveries in that part of the world wore wonderfully _ clear, and they conveyed a remarkable idea of the enormous amount of work that must have been done before the Babylonian ruina were laid bare. “We used to think.” ho said, “that for all Q ur civilisation we were indebted primarily •to Greco, and wo learned over and over again of “The glory that was Greece and grandeur that was Rome,” but these ancient civilisations were equal to and in many ways far ahead of those empires that succeeded them for thousands of years _ afterwards. _We have the remains of buildings that indicate a high degree of civilisation 4000 or 5000 years before Christ and we are only learning to-day something of their history from these old relics the excavators are digging from the dust and the rubble.” The lecturer showed pictures of ancient documents that had shed light on _ these forgotten empires and several _ replicas of the mysterious cunieform writing which had long puzzled archaelogists were also shown. Mr Marsh was tendered a hearty vote of thanks for his instructive and entertaining address.